Chicago Bass Clarinetist Jason Stein Profiled

In December 4, 2015, Chicago bass clarinetist Jason Stein played his first arena show, at the BMO Harris Bradley Center in Milwaukee. He knew that the 14,000 people in the audience hadn’t come to see him, even though he’s toured on several continents and earned acclaim in the New York Times and DownBeat magazine—free jazz isn’t a lucrative racket. For Stein and the musicians who share his circuit, a crowd of 50 in a cozy bar like the Hungry Brain counts as a respectable turnout.

The star who’d filled the arena was one of Stein’s two younger sisters, comedian Amy Schumer—and that night was the beginning of what would become a regular opening gig for Stein and his long-­running trio Locksmith Isidore, with Chicago bassist Jason Roebke and New York drummer Mike Pride.